Matt Biddle

Going to a school that had lost 39 of its past 41 football games was not high on Matt Biddle’s list of things to do. However, after talking to former Cowley College head football coach Jerry Boyce, Biddle decided to head down the road from Winfield to play for the Tigers.

“The football team was pitiful back then,” Biddle said. “My only attraction to Cowley would have been the agriculture school.”

The first-team all-state tight-end at Winfield High School ended up doing the unthinkable as he helped the Tigers to back-to-back winning seasons, and set several receiving records before moving on to play football at Southeast Missouri State University.

Biddle, who is an agriculture instructor at Eldon (Mo.) High School, will be honored for his contributions to the Tiger football team when he is inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame on Feb. 11.

“Like so many other teenagers I wanted to get away from home really bad after high school,” Biddle said. “But then when I got to Cowley it was nice being so close to home, and having the support of the college and the town. I also wanted an opportunity to move on, and Cowley did that for me.”

Biddle helped Cowley post records of 7-3 in 1978 and 7-4 in 1979. During the 1979 season, Biddle broke the school-record for catches in a season (60) and yards in a season (676) while helping lead the Tigers to a share of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference title, a national ranking, and an invitation to represent the conference in the Coca-Cola Bowl played in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Biddle hauled in a school-record 13 catches for 185 yards in a 55-28 loss to Ellsworth in the bowl game.

He was a First-Team All-KJCCC/All-Region VI tight-end each of his two years at Cowley.  He was also voted the team’s Most Inspirational Player in 1979 and was the recipient of the team’s 110 percent award.

“Football is a team game, to get individual honors I believe you have got to be successful as a team,” Biddle said. “Very few individuals get honored if you are not successful as a team.”

Biddle credits coach Boyce for the team’s dramatic improvement. Boyce, who was inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004, went on to serve as the offensive and defensive coordinator at Kansas State University from 1981-1985, and then was the assistant football coach/offensive coordinator at Indiana State University from 1985-1990.

“He was a phenomenal coach, he did an awesome job turning the football program around at Cowley,” Biddle said.

Biddle also has fond memories of agriculture instructors Larry Schwintz and Richard Treadway.

“They were awesome,” Biddle said. “Once I started visiting Cowley and spoke with them, Cowley seemed to be the right fit for me.”

Born and raised in Winfield, and having his parents Raymond and Mary Biddle, and brothers, Pat, Richard, Jess, and Mark, still residing in Winfield, Biddle had intentions of moving back to Kansas someday, but he ended up staying in Missouri.

Biddle earned an agricultural education degree from Southeast Missouri State in 1982, and later earned a masters degree in agricultural education from the University of Missouri in 1988.

“I went to three different institutions, and I probably feel more alliance to Cowley than the other two,” Biddle said.

He began his teaching career at Russellville (Mo.) High School in 1983, and taught at the school until 1988, when he left for a teaching position at Eldon (Mo.) High School. He has served as the school’s agriculture instructor ever since.

He married his high school sweetheart, Monica, in 1980, and the couple have three children, Adrienne, 21, Drew, 19, and Taylor, 15. Biddle and his family reside in Lohman, Mo.

His wife’s brother, Mike Adler, was a freshman on the Tiger football team during Biddle’s sophomore year.

Biddle was surprised to find out he was going to be inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame.

“My first thought was wow!” Biddle said. “When I saw the other people that were in the Hall of Fame it made it even more impressive. I think it is a great honor.”

The Hall of Fame ceremonies will take place at halftime of the Tiger men’s basketball game vs. Allen County on Feb. 11. The game will begin at 8 p.m.